will be tossed out the window across the Island this September, The Royal Gazette has learned.

School principals received a notice from the Education Ministry informing them of the decision within the last ten days and are now scrambling to develop plans to handle students with behavioural problems within the school walls.

And teachers claim this is yet another case of parents not being held responsible for the behaviour of their children, while over-burdened teachers are forced to take on ever more complicated roles.

In a move that critics say represents a further "watering down of discipline'', schools will now be limited to handing out only in-school suspensions for misbehaviour. Punishing students by barring them from the school grounds for a period of days will require the permission of the Chief Educational Officer and be allowed only under extreme circumstances.

"We feel again that responsibility is being taken away from the parent if a child is misbehaving,'' Bermuda Union of Teachers executive officer Mike Charles told The Royal Gazette .

And he said that although Education Minister Milton Scott had said teachers would be consulted over changes to disciplinary procedures, no meetings between teachers and the Ministry have taken place on limiting suspensions.

"We await the Minister's invitation to consult,'' said Mr. Charles. "We need to hear how it will be done.'' Mr. Charles said he was concerned that an entire system would need to be developed in order to allow for in-school suspensions.

"We don't know whether the schools have places to house the kids or who will supervise those suspended,'' he said. "I don't know of any school that has been doing that. Schools have only been issuing out-of-school suspensions.'' However, last night Senator Scott said that the programme of in-school suspensions was already in place at the five middle schools and the two senior schools.

He said schools would still oversee the details of the suspensions -- such as how to inform parents that a child is being punished within the school for misbehaving.

But out-of-school suspensions will only be allowed for extreme cases -- such as assault on a teacher or fellow student. And, when students must be banned from the school for long periods of time, Sen. Scott said they would be placed in alternate facilities rather than merely sent home.

"Rather than sending students who misbehave home or out into the community, we want to suspend them in a school or other supervised setting,'' he said.

"If not, they can come back far worse.'' School punishment anger Sen. Scott said that the Ministry would be placing students with programmes such as that offered by the Coalition for the Protection of Children or Cadets when the seriousness of their offence warranted a period away from school but did not want to see them at home or on the streets.

For less serious offences, the child should be punished but remain in school, he said, and he added that all Island schools -- from primary through high school -- would be expected to adhere to the policy.

While the Association of School Principals, has yet to discuss the new policy, its president, Livingston Tuzo said from a personal standpoint, he had been very surprised to learn of it.

Principals are being asked to submit plans to the Ministry on how their schools will implement the in school suspension policy.

But Mr Tuzo, who is the principal of West End Primary, said his school has neither the physical resources in terms of space, nor the human resources in terms of personnel, to implement the policy.

Meanwhile, Shadow Education Minister Tim Smith, said doing away with out-of-school suspensions takes parents further out the picture.

"To the parents, an out-of-school suspension reinforces that they must take responsibility for their children and must respect and enforce the rules of the schools, he said. And he said schools must continue to offer a safe, civil and learning environment to those students that are behaving while demonstrating that there are serious consequences to bad behaviour in the classroom.